The Syracuse area's unemployment rate jumped to 8.3 percent in January, the highest level in 17 years, according to the state Labor Department.

Employers in the three-county metro area had 1,000 fewer jobs on their payrolls in January than they did in the same month a year ago.

January's rate is significantly higher than the area's 6.9 percent rate in December and 5.7 percent rate in January of 2008. Syracuse's January unemployment rate also is well above the state's rate, 7.6 percent but it's still lower than the nation's rate, 8.5 percent.

"The recession has taken hold," said Karen Knapik-Scalzo, a state Labor Department economist.

The ranks of the unemployed in the three-county area grew in January to 27,700.

Syracuse's jobless rate is flirting with the record high of 8.7 percent set in February of 1992 during another economic recession.

Manufacturing shed 1,900 jobs over the last year, the biggest job loss of any sector. Government added 1,000 jobs and educational-health services added 800. Most of the government jobs reflect public school employment, Knapik-Scalzo said.

Syracuse's private sector lost 2,000 jobs between January 2008 and January 2009.

The unemployment rate typically increases at the beginning of the year because of seasonal factors such as layoffs of retail workers hired for the holiday season, a downturn in construction and a reduction in employment at colleges during winter break, Knapik-Scalzo said. The recession is compounding the seasonal increase this year, she said.

The Glens Falls metro area had the highest jobless rate in January, 9.3 percent, while Ithaca had the lowest, 5.6 percent.

Among the state's counties, Oswego's jobless rate of 10.9 percent is tied for fourth-highest with Niagara and Wyoming counties.